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OpenClaw now tries ClawHub before npm for bare plugin specs. Update install examples and guidance across: - building-plugins.md: intro and publish step - sdk-setup.md: publishing section with clawhub:/npm: prefix examples - tools/plugin.md: CLI reference table - community.md: submission guidance and quality bar
240 lines
8.6 KiB
Markdown
240 lines
8.6 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: "Building Plugins"
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sidebarTitle: "Getting Started"
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summary: "Create your first OpenClaw plugin in minutes"
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read_when:
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- You want to create a new OpenClaw plugin
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- You need a quick-start for plugin development
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- You are adding a new channel, provider, tool, or other capability to OpenClaw
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---
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# Building Plugins
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Plugins extend OpenClaw with new capabilities: channels, model providers, speech,
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image generation, web search, agent tools, or any combination.
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You do not need to add your plugin to the OpenClaw repository. Publish to
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[ClawHub](/tools/clawhub) or npm and users install with
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`openclaw plugins install <package-name>`. OpenClaw tries ClawHub first and
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falls back to npm automatically.
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## Prerequisites
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- Node >= 22 and a package manager (npm or pnpm)
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- Familiarity with TypeScript (ESM)
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- For in-repo plugins: repository cloned and `pnpm install` done
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## What kind of plugin?
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<CardGroup cols={3}>
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<Card title="Channel plugin" icon="messages-square" href="/plugins/sdk-channel-plugins">
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Connect OpenClaw to a messaging platform (Discord, IRC, etc.)
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</Card>
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<Card title="Provider plugin" icon="cpu" href="/plugins/sdk-provider-plugins">
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Add a model provider (LLM, proxy, or custom endpoint)
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</Card>
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<Card title="Tool / hook plugin" icon="wrench">
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Register agent tools, event hooks, or services — continue below
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</Card>
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</CardGroup>
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## Quick start: tool plugin
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This walkthrough creates a minimal plugin that registers an agent tool. Channel
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and provider plugins have dedicated guides linked above.
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<Steps>
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<Step title="Create the package and manifest">
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<CodeGroup>
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```json package.json
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{
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"name": "@myorg/openclaw-my-plugin",
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"version": "1.0.0",
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"type": "module",
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"openclaw": {
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"extensions": ["./index.ts"]
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}
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}
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```
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```json openclaw.plugin.json
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{
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"id": "my-plugin",
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"name": "My Plugin",
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"description": "Adds a custom tool to OpenClaw",
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"configSchema": {
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"type": "object",
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"additionalProperties": false
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}
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}
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```
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</CodeGroup>
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Every plugin needs a manifest, even with no config. See
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[Manifest](/plugins/manifest) for the full schema.
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</Step>
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<Step title="Write the entry point">
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```typescript
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// index.ts
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import { definePluginEntry } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/plugin-entry";
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import { Type } from "@sinclair/typebox";
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export default definePluginEntry({
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id: "my-plugin",
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name: "My Plugin",
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description: "Adds a custom tool to OpenClaw",
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register(api) {
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api.registerTool({
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name: "my_tool",
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description: "Do a thing",
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parameters: Type.Object({ input: Type.String() }),
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async execute(_id, params) {
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return { content: [{ type: "text", text: `Got: ${params.input}` }] };
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},
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});
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},
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});
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```
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`definePluginEntry` is for non-channel plugins. For channels, use
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`defineChannelPluginEntry` — see [Channel Plugins](/plugins/sdk-channel-plugins).
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For full entry point options, see [Entry Points](/plugins/sdk-entrypoints).
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</Step>
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<Step title="Test and publish">
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**External plugins:** publish to [ClawHub](/tools/clawhub) or npm, then install:
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```bash
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openclaw plugins install @myorg/openclaw-my-plugin
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```
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OpenClaw checks ClawHub first, then falls back to npm.
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**In-repo plugins:** place under `extensions/` — automatically discovered.
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```bash
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pnpm test -- extensions/my-plugin/
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```
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</Step>
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</Steps>
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## Plugin capabilities
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A single plugin can register any number of capabilities via the `api` object:
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| Capability | Registration method | Detailed guide |
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| -------------------- | --------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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| Text inference (LLM) | `api.registerProvider(...)` | [Provider Plugins](/plugins/sdk-provider-plugins) |
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| Channel / messaging | `api.registerChannel(...)` | [Channel Plugins](/plugins/sdk-channel-plugins) |
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| Speech (TTS/STT) | `api.registerSpeechProvider(...)` | [Provider Plugins](/plugins/sdk-provider-plugins#step-5-add-extra-capabilities) |
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| Media understanding | `api.registerMediaUnderstandingProvider(...)` | [Provider Plugins](/plugins/sdk-provider-plugins#step-5-add-extra-capabilities) |
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| Image generation | `api.registerImageGenerationProvider(...)` | [Provider Plugins](/plugins/sdk-provider-plugins#step-5-add-extra-capabilities) |
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| Web search | `api.registerWebSearchProvider(...)` | [Provider Plugins](/plugins/sdk-provider-plugins#step-5-add-extra-capabilities) |
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| Agent tools | `api.registerTool(...)` | Below |
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| Custom commands | `api.registerCommand(...)` | [Entry Points](/plugins/sdk-entrypoints) |
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| Event hooks | `api.registerHook(...)` | [Entry Points](/plugins/sdk-entrypoints) |
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| HTTP routes | `api.registerHttpRoute(...)` | [Internals](/plugins/architecture#gateway-http-routes) |
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| CLI subcommands | `api.registerCli(...)` | [Entry Points](/plugins/sdk-entrypoints) |
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For the full registration API, see [SDK Overview](/plugins/sdk-overview#registration-api).
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## Registering agent tools
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Tools are typed functions the LLM can call. They can be required (always
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available) or optional (user opt-in):
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```typescript
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register(api) {
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// Required tool — always available
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api.registerTool({
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name: "my_tool",
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description: "Do a thing",
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parameters: Type.Object({ input: Type.String() }),
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async execute(_id, params) {
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return { content: [{ type: "text", text: params.input }] };
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},
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});
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// Optional tool — user must add to allowlist
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api.registerTool(
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{
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name: "workflow_tool",
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description: "Run a workflow",
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parameters: Type.Object({ pipeline: Type.String() }),
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async execute(_id, params) {
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return { content: [{ type: "text", text: params.pipeline }] };
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},
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},
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{ optional: true },
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);
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}
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```
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Users enable optional tools in config:
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```json5
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{
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tools: { allow: ["workflow_tool"] },
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}
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```
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- Tool names must not clash with core tools (conflicts are skipped)
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- Use `optional: true` for tools with side effects or extra binary requirements
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- Users can enable all tools from a plugin by adding the plugin id to `tools.allow`
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## Import conventions
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Always import from focused `openclaw/plugin-sdk/<subpath>` paths:
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```typescript
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import { definePluginEntry } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/plugin-entry";
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import { createPluginRuntimeStore } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/runtime-store";
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// Wrong: monolithic root (deprecated, will be removed)
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import { ... } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk";
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```
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For the full subpath reference, see [SDK Overview](/plugins/sdk-overview).
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Within your plugin, use local barrel files (`api.ts`, `runtime-api.ts`) for
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internal imports — never import your own plugin through its SDK path.
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## Pre-submission checklist
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<Check>**package.json** has correct `openclaw` metadata</Check>
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<Check>**openclaw.plugin.json** manifest is present and valid</Check>
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<Check>Entry point uses `defineChannelPluginEntry` or `definePluginEntry`</Check>
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<Check>All imports use focused `plugin-sdk/<subpath>` paths</Check>
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<Check>Internal imports use local modules, not SDK self-imports</Check>
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<Check>Tests pass (`pnpm test -- extensions/my-plugin/`)</Check>
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<Check>`pnpm check` passes (in-repo plugins)</Check>
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## Next steps
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<CardGroup cols={2}>
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<Card title="Channel Plugins" icon="messages-square" href="/plugins/sdk-channel-plugins">
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Build a messaging channel plugin
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</Card>
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<Card title="Provider Plugins" icon="cpu" href="/plugins/sdk-provider-plugins">
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Build a model provider plugin
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</Card>
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<Card title="SDK Overview" icon="book-open" href="/plugins/sdk-overview">
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Import map and registration API reference
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</Card>
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<Card title="Runtime Helpers" icon="settings" href="/plugins/sdk-runtime">
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TTS, search, subagent via api.runtime
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</Card>
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<Card title="Testing" icon="test-tubes" href="/plugins/sdk-testing">
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Test utilities and patterns
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</Card>
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<Card title="Plugin Manifest" icon="file-json" href="/plugins/manifest">
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Full manifest schema reference
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</Card>
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</CardGroup>
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